Brand

Under Armour is launching sales in Brazil, part of the Baltimore-based sports apparel maker's goal of spreading the brand globally. Under Armour apparel and footwear will be sold in more than 70 locations or e-commerce hubs, the company said. The initiative was announced in Sao Paulo by founder and CEO Kevin Plank, who was joined by Under Armour athletes Ironman World Champion Chris McCormack and Mixed Martial Arts champion Georges St-Pierre. "Launching the Under Armour brand in Brazil is another critical step towards reaching our international expansion goals and driving our continued growth throughout the world," Plank said in the announcement.

Under Armour plans to build its third U.S. distribution center in a suburb of Nashville, the Baltimore-based sports apparel maker said Thursday. The 1 million-square-foot-warehouse, a more than $100 million investment for the sports brand, will be built in Mount Juliet, Tenn., and will open in early 2016, the company said. Under Armour also has distribution centers in Baltimore and Rialto, Calif. The Tennessee warehouse will employ 1,500 workers over the next five years. The company operates two Under Armour Factory House retail stores in the state, in Nashville and Sevierville.

Shoppers have come to know the Pandora name for glittering displays of customized sterling bracelets and gemstone charms sold by jewelers or the company's own retailers. But the Danish company kept a lower profile for its Maryland connection — a U.S. headquarters that's been lodged in Columbia since the brand arrived in the country in 2003. At first, the small headquarters didn't garner much notice; then the company didn't want to advertise the location because its warehouse was filled with high-priced goods.

A former Macy's and I Magnin executive will step in as brand president of Jos. A. Bank Clothiers, part of the Hampstead-based Bank's integration into parent company Men's Wearhouse. Bank's new president, Paul Fitzpatrick, most recently served as president and chief operating officer of ESP Group Ltd., a designer of underwear, sleepwear and lounge wear. In another executive team change, former Jos. Bank executive Jim Thorne will become executive vice president of direct sourcing, overseeing Men's Wearhouse's overall product development, manufacturing and sourcing, the Houston-based men's apparel chain said Tuesday.

It is amazing how the Under Armour line of apparel has caught on with the school kids. I had a chance to attend grandfather's day recently and stood in the back of the room watching the kids sitting on the floor and singing. Initially, I thought all of the kids were in uniform, but when I looked more closely I was surprised to see that all the shirts bore the Under Armour logo. Also, at a recent soccer game many of the players' fathers also wore shirts with the Under Amour logo.

Los Angeles -- Surprise, there is something genuinely new under the network TV sun.The producers are calling it the "first Third World network television show." And, visually, it's the most interesting network series since "Miami Vice." Culturally -- in its presentation of the Third World and people of color -- it's potential seems without limit compared to standard prime-time network fare.The show is called "Going to Extremes," and it debuts on ABC in September in the can't-miss time slot of 10 Tuesday night following "Coach."

Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank is far from alone in believing the relatively young Baltimore-based company has a shot at becoming the world's biggest sports brand. Among nearly 200 shareholders who crowded into the company's Locust Point headquarters for its annual meeting Tuesday were more than a few who shared the founder's enthusiasm. "The important thing about this company is one word: 'innovative,'" said Frank Altoz, a shareholder from Catonsville. "As long as they keep doing that, the stock will be going up. " Shares of Under Armour have soared 65 percent in the past year.

There isn't much about the problems created by the brand split, or lack thereof, that hasn't been said. But as preparing for Sunday's Hell in a Cell, there have been a lot of theories floating around, and one of the prevalent ones has left me shaking my head. It doesn't directly relate to tonight's Smackdown, but it highlights one of the problems of the not-really-split split brands. Dolph Ziggler's Money in the Bank contract allows him a World Heavyweight Championship match at the time of his choosing.

Under Armour will continue to supply uniforms to the University of Maryland's varsity teams under a 10-year extension deal announced Tuesday. The Baltimore-based sports brand will continue to design and supply game-day uniforms as well as footwear, apparel and equipment for training for all men's and women's varsity teams. "The University of Maryland is an integral part of Under Armour's history, culture and identity," Matt Mirchin, Under Armour's executive vice president of global marketing, said in the company's announcement.

I am so angry right now, I should get a two-game suspension. The National Football League and the Baltimore Ravens have sacrificed running back Ray Rice on the altar of their public image. His firing was cynical and expedient and has absolutely nothing to do with domestic abuse. As soon as video from inside the casino elevator was made public - confirming what we already knew from the police report, that Rice hit his then-fiancee hard enough to knock her unconscious - the team terminated his contract.

Under Armour has overtaken Adidas this year in combined apparel and footwear sales to become the second biggest sports brand in the United States. Baltimore-based Under Armour had U.S. apparel and footwear sales of $1.2 billion through the end of August, edging ahead of Adidas with $1.1 billion total U.S. sales, according to a Sterne Agee report citing sales figures from SportScanInfo. Under Armour sales have jumped 20 percent this year, while Adidas combined sales have plummeted 23 percent.

Despite going by the same name, American football and what the rest of the world considers football are completely different games. They have a different level of physicality as well as an entirely different pace. Part of this difference in the pace of the game comes from the way the organizations that oversee these two sports, FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) and the NFL (National Football League), choose to monetize their games. If you caught any of The FIFA World Cup this summer you saw the games without any pauses for advertisements.

Driver advocacy organization AAA Mid-Atlantic, known for its roadside assistance and insurance and travel services, is moving headlong into a new market in Maryland: automotive repair and maintenance. "It's a major retooling of our retail structure," said Bernhard M. Koch, the group's president and CEO, at the official opening of the group's newest retail shop and mechanic's garage in Columbia on Friday. While AAA will continue to give its seal of approval to independent auto repair shops through its "approved automotive repair network," which includes about 80 shops in Maryland, its own entrance into the market has been expanding at a steady clip in recent years.

Jack Dingman recounted an idyllic childhood in Dundalk and looked around the Heritage Fair on Saturday wishing for the blue-collar community to return to the glory that had been bolstered by a booming steel plant. The 28-year-old contractor, who now lives in Middle River, grew up less than a mile from the fairgrounds, and said he used to walk to the festival past thriving stores, restaurants and barbershops. "I love Dundalk, and I am proud to be from Dundalk," Dingman said. "But it breaks my heart.

Save-A-Lot Food Store, the fast-growing St. Louis-based grocery chain that stocks its shelves with national brand knockoffs such as Bubba Cola and Winkies, opened its first Baltimore location yesterday, anchoring the new Midtown Market shopping center at Howard and 21st streets.Instead of Wisk, Mountain Dew and Pledge, shoppers will find Frisk, Mountain Holler and Honor in the 39,000-square-foot store.The chain, which runs 709 stores in 31 states and opened 108 stores last year, offers mostly custom-brand products in a single size and promises savings of up to 40 percent.

You should always stick with a name you can trust.Or should you?Intelligent investors who put money in the stocks of companies that make trusted brand-name consumer products have been hammered hard in 1993. It started as Philip Morris Cos. slashed prices on cigarettes to compete with fast-rising discount brands.A panic developed, resulting in price declines in stocks of countless brand-name firms that might conceivably face generic or private-brand competition.Some worry is justified, but not in all cases.

Are you an Orioles fan? What about an Orioles fan who enjoys team-related salsa with your chips? Or are you part of the even smaller subset that prefers to buy your team-related salsa in person, as opposed to over the scary Internet? Diehard player-affiliated salsa aficionados, your day has come. Orioles third baseman Manny Machado will be formally unveiling his Machado's Salsa brand on Tuesday afternoon at 12:45 p.m. at the Pikesville Giant, located at 3757 Old Court Road - the rare election day media event that will be worth attending, I'm sure.

When Jeff Shaney and his wife bought their historic home last year, he says, his friends from Towson all asked the same thing. "Why did you move to Dundalk?" The waterfront community in Baltimore County has long suffered skeptics and detractors - it's been derided by some as "Dumb-dalk," and when a survey was conducted three years ago, people in the area described it in terms that were not pretty: Rats. Crime. Filth. "If you've never been here, you may think the town is a dying steel plant - or now, a dead steel plant," said Amy Menzer, executive director of the nonprofit Dundalk Renaissance Corp.